1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fryer in which cooking oil filled into an oil vat is heated by a burner to cook foods.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 10 shows a conventionally known fryer 100, which is provided with an oil vat 110 for containing cooking oil for deep frying foods such as French fries or chicken, and in which burners 120 are operated to heat the cooking oil from outside the oil vat 110.
The oil vat 110 can be divided broadly into opposing left and right side wall portions 115, a vertically formed front wall portion (not shown in the drawing), a rear wall portion 114 in opposition to the front wall portion, and a bottom wall portion 111.
The side wall portions 115 of the oil vat 110 are each made of an upper side wall portion 115c forming a vertical wall, an oblique middle side wall portion 115b sloping downward from the upper side wall portion 115c, and a lower side wall portion 116a extending vertically from the bottom end of the middle side wall portion 115b. The region enclosed by the upper side wall portions 115c, the middle side wall portions 115b, the front wall portion, and the rear wall portion 114 serves as the cooking zone X.
A narrow vat portion 112 is formed in the lower part of the oil vat 110, surrounded by the left and right lower side wall portions 115a and the bottom wall portion 111, and extending in the depth direction.
A pair of burners 120 for heating the cooking oil is provided on the left and right side of the lower side wall portions 115a. The region below the burners 120 in the narrow vat portion 112 is formed as a cold zone Y that is scarcely heated, and can hold oil sediment generated by the foods during cooking, preventing deterioration of the cooking oil.
An exhaust duct 130 is provided outside the oil vat 110. The exhaust duct 130 conveys combustion gas from the burner 120 to the rear wall portion 114 via the middle side wall portion 115b, and discharges the combustion gas outside the fryer.
The fryer 100, however, is provided with burners 120 on both the left and right side of the oil vat 110, which together with related parts make the fryer expensive.
Also, even though the combustion gas rises from both the left and the right side of the narrow vat portions 112 (lower side wall portion 115a) and flows toward the bottom wall (middle side wall portion 115b) of the cooking zone, primarily only the left and right side wall portions are used for the exchange of heat between the combustion gas and the cooking oil, so the thermal efficiency is not very high.
An additional problem is that in fryers in which the oil vat 110 is partitioned into left and right vats by a partitioning plate 153 (known as a xe2x80x9csplit vatxe2x80x9d type fryer), the narrow cold zone Y becomes even narrower, making it difficult to clean out the oil sediment.
It is a primary object of the fryer of the present invention to solve the aforementioned problems and to provide an inexpensive fryer, and a further object thereof to improve thermal efficiency and make cleaning easier.
A fryer according to claim 1 of the present invention for solving the above problems is characterized by including:
a box-shaped oil vat into which cooking oil is filled and having left and right side wall portions, a front wall portion, a rear wall portion, and a bottom wall portion, wherein the bottom wall portion is sloped downward in a rearward direction, and an oil sediment holding portion for holding oil sediment is formed at a lower end of the bottom wall portion;
a burner, which is provided in opposition to the oil vat bottom wall portion from the outside and which heats the bottom wall portion by combustion; and
an exhaust duct for heat exchange, which brings combustion gas from the burner into contact with the left and right side wall portions and the rear wall portion of the oil vat, after which it is discharged to outside the fryer.
In a fryer according to claim 2 of the present invention, the fryer according to claim 1 is further provided with a predetermined gap extending from left to right between the lower end of the bottom wall portion of the oil vat and the rear wall portion of the oil vat, and the oil sediment holding portion is formed in this gap.
In a fryer according to claim 3 of the present invention, the fryer according to claim 2 is further provided with a partitioning plate for partitioning the oil vat having the oil sediment holding portion extending from left to right into left and right oil vat portions, and wherein the left and right oil vat portions are independently heated by the burner.
In the fryer according to claim 1 of the present invention with the above configuration, the bottom wall portion of the oil vat is heated by combustion with the burner, and the combustion gas generated at that time is conveyed from the bottom wall portion of the oil vat to the left and right side wall portions and the rear wall portion, and then discharged outside of the fryer.
Thus, because an exhaust duct for conveying the combustion gas around the oil vat is provided and secures a sufficient heated area, the cooking oil can be sufficiently heated simply by providing a single burner.
Oil sediment generated from the foods during cooking is guided along the downward sloping oil vat bottom wall portion and toward the rear of the oil vat, and is accumulated in the oil sediment holding portion that is formed to the lower end of the oil vat bottom wall portion.
In the fryer according to claim 2 of the present invention, the oil sediment holding portion extends along the rear wall portion of the oil vat, so that a united wide space for disposing a burner along the oil vat bottom wall portion is formed in front of the oil sediment holding portion, and the cooking oil is sufficiently heated.
Oil sediment that sinks to the oil vat bottom wall portion drops into the oil sediment holding portion without stopping.
The fryer according to claim 3 of the present invention is configured having a split type oil vat in which the oil vat has been divided into left and right vat portions by a partitioning plate, and because the oil sediment holding portion extends to the left and right, the partitioning plate is provided intersecting the oil sediment holding portion in the direction in which it extends. Thus, the width of the oil sediment holding portion is not narrowed, and it is easy to clean out the inside of the oil sediment holding portion.